Callahan sneaks up Devils

In last year's playoffs, Ryan Callahan was a virtual unknown. Now, he's making the Devils pay attention to him.

The Rangers' right winger scored the game-winner on a short-handed goal 7:23 into the third period last night, snaking around the back of the net to beat Devils goaltender Martin Brodeur to the slowly rolling puck.

Callahan's hustle snapped a 1-1 tie and proved to be the momentum swing that effectively demoralized the Devils as the Rangers took a 4-1 victory and a 1-0 lead in the best-of-seven Eastern Conference playoff series between the two teams.

"I was just trying to go hard to the net there," Callahan said. "I just tried to bat it in."

Unlike last season when he was new to this, Callahan is no longer a stranger to a playoff environment. His breakthrough came in Game 3 of the Rangers' first-round series last spring against the Atlanta Thrashers when he notched two goals in a 7-0 Rangers victory.

This year he has established himself on the team's third line, and his poise showed on last night's decisive goal. With the final seconds of the penalty kill ticking down, the Rangers pushed the puck down to the Devils' end. Callahan launched a shot from the right wing, then skated around behind the net, avoiding the scrum in front of the goal.

Scott Gomez attempted a shot and on the rebound Brodeur scrambled to keep the puck from rolling into the goal. But he was slow to reach it and by the time he did, Callahan, who kept his eyes on the puck the entire time he was behind the net, had already swooped in to push the puck past the Devils goalie.

"I just came down, tried to get the puck into the net," Callahan said. "Early there, coming around, I saw Scotty just throwing it up there. I saw it was loose, not too sure what was going on with the puck, and got there before (Brodeur) got rid of it."

It was a bit fluky, the sort of thing you don't see very often with a goaltender as talented as Brodeur. Callahan acknowledged it was a rare opportunity while Gomez, the ex-Devil, said it was a key stroke of luck for the Rangers.

"It's going to be one of those series where you have to get that bounce," Gomez said.

But Rangers coach Tom Renney pointed out that solid decision-making by both players involved made the play develop.

"It was a good decision by Scotty to attack," Renney said, "and it was a good decision by Cally to catch up to him. And ultimately, you can't score if you don't shoot the puck."

Quite a turnaround of fortunes for the 23-year-old Callahan, who only played in 14 regular-season games in 2007 before playing in all 10 playoff games. He was sent down twice this season, battled a knee sprain, and scored eight goals in 52 games with the Rangers.

But Gomez, who had three assists, pointed to Callahan as the catalyst for the win.

"He's a special kid, he's great to be around," Gomez said. "He's a hard worker, but he's a guy that also ... when he plays -- hitting, banging around, taking shots -- he's unreal. His confidence has gone up.

"Don't forget, this guy got sent down and he responded great. He's one of the main reasons why we turned it around there at the end."